Indian citizens living outside the country can vote in Indian elections, but only by registering as overseas electors and then travelling to India to cast the ballot in person at the polling station tied to their constituency. There is no postal ballot, no online voting, and no proxy voting available to NRIs as of 2026. If you want to know how NRIs can vote from abroad in Indian elections, the practical answer is two steps: get your name onto the overseas electors’ roll using Form 6A, and plan to fly home on polling day with your Indian passport in hand.
Who Can Register as an Overseas Elector
Section 20A of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 sets out who qualifies. You need to hold Indian citizenship and must not have taken the citizenship of any other country. You must be at least 18 on January 1 of the year the electoral roll is being revised. You must be living abroad, whether for work, study, or any other reason, and your name must not already appear on any Indian constituency’s voter list as a general elector. Registration is linked to the address printed in your Indian passport, so that address determines your constituency.1Press Information Bureau. Representation of People (Amendment) Act, 2010 – PIB
OCI Cardholders Are Not Eligible
If you surrendered Indian citizenship and now hold an Overseas Citizen of India card, you cannot vote. OCI status carries several rights in India, but voting, contesting elections, and holding constitutional posts are explicitly excluded.2Ministry of Home Affairs. Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) Cardholder Indian citizens abroad can register; former citizens holding OCI cards cannot.
Registering With Form 6A
Form 6A is the application for enrolment as an overseas elector. It goes to the Electoral Registration Officer of the constituency where your passport lists your place of residence in India. You’ll be asked for your full name, date and place of birth, and a family member’s name for identification. You’ll list your current address abroad, along with a mobile number and email. And you’ll enter your passport details (number, place and date of issue, expiry) and visa details (number, type, issuing authority, date of issue), plus a short statement of why you’re living outside India.
Attach a recent passport-sized colour photograph and photocopies of the relevant passport pages, including the page carrying your valid visa.3Election Commission of India. Guidelines for Filling Up the Application Form-6A
Three Ways to Submit
You can hand the form in at the ERO’s office, post it, or file it online through the National Voters’ Service Portal at nvsp.in. If you post it, get the passport photocopies attested by a competent official at the nearest Indian embassy or consulate. If you file in person, bring the original passport along with the copies.3Election Commission of India. Guidelines for Filling Up the Application Form-6A
What Happens After You Apply
The ERO puts a copy of your application on the office notice board for seven days so that objections can be filed. If nothing is raised in that window and your papers are in order, the ERO can order your name added to the roll.4Embassy of India, Zagreb. Frequently Asked Questions Overseas (NRI) Electors Beyond the objection period, there is no fixed maximum processing time, so apply well before any election you want to vote in.
The decision is sent to you by post at the foreign address you gave and by SMS on your registered mobile number. You can also look yourself up on the published electoral roll on the Chief Electoral Officer’s website for your state.5Election Commission of India. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Electoral Roll Revision/Updation
Voting on Election Day
You have to be physically present. The only way to cast a vote as an overseas elector is to appear at the polling station assigned to your part of the constituency in India on the scheduled polling day. Registered NRIs can vote in both Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assembly elections for the constituency their passport ties them to.6Consulate General of India, Sittwe, Myanmar. Voting Facilities for NRIs and OCIs
Your name is listed in a separate “Overseas Electors” section at the end of the polling station’s voter list. At the booth, you present your original Indian passport as identification. Overseas electors are not issued an Electors Photo Identity Card, so the passport is the only accepted ID. There are no dedicated queues or booths for NRIs; you vote at the same station as everyone else in that area.7Election Commission of India. FAQs – Overseas Electors
Why There’s No Remote Voting Option Yet
The Election Commission of India has said it has the technical ability to extend the Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System to overseas electors. ETPBS is already used by service voters, meaning military and diplomatic personnel posted abroad, who receive their ballot electronically and return it by post.8Election Commission of India. Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System Extending the facility to NRIs, though, requires an amendment to the Representation of the People Act, and that amendment has not been passed.
A parliamentary committee chaired by Shashi Tharoor in March 2025 recommended that the government move ahead with proxy voting and electronic ballots for NRIs and asked the Ministry of External Affairs to work with the Law Ministry on the legislative changes. The committee said consultations with national political parties would be needed before any amendment could be introduced. As of mid-2026, no amendment has been enacted.
Proxy voting, where an authorised person in your constituency votes on your behalf, was cleared as a proposal by the government in 2017, but the required amendment was never passed by Parliament.6Consulate General of India, Sittwe, Myanmar. Voting Facilities for NRIs and OCIs Proposals and technical readiness exist; the legislative step remains incomplete.
If You Were Already a Registered Voter in India
You cannot be on two electoral rolls. If you were enrolled as a general voter before moving abroad, you need to surrender your EPIC card when you submit Form 6A, and the application itself includes a declaration that you are not enrolled as a general elector anywhere else.9Consulate General of India, Chicago, USA. NRI Voter Enrollment Process Once you’re registered as an overseas elector, your name moves to the overseas section of the voter list for your polling station area, and your earlier general elector entry should be removed. If you later return to India permanently, you would file a fresh application to re-register as a general voter.